Notes from Paris: a fashion week full of discoveries

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Paris Fashion Week has come to an end but it was full of inspiring moments. Between the spectacular fashion shows (hello, Chanel and Alexander McQueen!) there were also pleasant surprises from young designers, whose pieces you never knew you wanted but that you now need. These are just some of my favourite discoveries from the City of Light.

The object of obsession: La Fétiche

When I learned about the two women who decided to go it alone after decades at a luxury brand, my interest was piqued.

Glasgow-based April Crichton and Paris native Orely Forestier both spent the majority of their careers (20 and 15 years respectively) at the iconic French fashion house, Sonia Rykiel, creating joyous collections under the founder herself. After a few years' break, they’ve reconnected to launch La Fétiche – French for obsession, according to their translation.

The first collection is based around perfect wardrobe pieces, according to Crichton and Forestier. It is highly personal, with each partner seeking out skilled artisans close to their home cities to produce the pieces.

Thus knitters in Fife create colourful hand-knitted sweaters, and one of the last specialist jean manufacturers in Beauvoir-Sur-Mer, France, produces perfectly cut and cuffed denim.

La Fétiche Credit:
Sonia Sieff

Collaborators are often the pair’s artist friends – twin sisters Hayley and Sue Tompkins' hand-knitted chain necklaces attach to the sweaters. It makes for a beguiling collection, throughout which the hand of the creators is clearly visible.

The breakout star: Marine Serre

Serres’s graduate collection won her the LVMH Award, and was shortlisted at the Hyères Fashion Festival, so her first show at Paris Fashion Week was always going to be the hottest ticket in town.

A look from the Marine Serre collectionCredit:
Tanguy Poujolt

Her bodysuits, like second skins, patterned with crescent moon tatouage and layered under moiré silk trousers or Persian carpet dresses, gave her a brand identity when she barely had a brand. The show did not disappoint.

Serre continued her exploration between East and West, showing long, tailored denim jackets with nipped-in waists, khaki journalist coats that were as functional as they were couture, and dresses made from vintage scarves she and her team had sourced from warehouses overflowing with them.

A look from the Marine Serre collection Credit:
Tanguy Poujolt

The scarf dresses will use vintage scarves in production too, so every dress will be upcycled and unique. It was a breakout moment for a designer who plays with a melting pot of cultures, nods to the zeitgeist’s penchant for sportswear and underpins her design with sustainable sourcing.

The bonus beauty discovery: David Mallett

Founded in 2003, David Mallett’s famous hairdressers has been housed in an extraordinarily elegant 17th century hôtel particulier near Palais Royale. The salon itself however, is no historical museum – its centrepiece is a stuffed ostrich.

The ostrich centrepiece at the David Mallett Salon

David Mallett has long been an iconic haunt of the well-heeled and perfectly coiffed, so it was with great excitement that I arrived to experience the salon’s Tokyo Treatment at the hands of Emmanuelle.

If you want a real treat for your head, book an appointment here as soon as possible. Emmanuelle’s cabine is an experience for your locks like no other.